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不然 (bù rán) — (conjunction) otherwise, or else; (colloquial, sentence-final) how about it? what else?

Definition

不然 is a conjunction meaning 'otherwise / if not' (e.g. 快走，不然迟到了) and, sentence-finally, a casual 'how about it?'. It is more colloquial than 否则; 要不是 is the 'if it weren't for' form.

conjunction
otherwiseor else(colloquial, sentence-final) how about it? what else?

Examples

  • ，不然。
    Nǐ zuì hǎo dài sǎn, bù rán huì lín shī.
    You'd better bring an umbrella, otherwise you'll get wet.
  • ，不然？
    Zán men qù kàn diàn yǐng, bù rán ne?
    Let's go watch a movie — how about it?
  • 不然，。
    bù rán De huà, wǒ jiù zì jǐ qù le.
    Otherwise, I'll go by myself.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

不bùnot
然ránso

不 means not and 然 means so, so the word means otherwise.

Characters in this word

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The picture in 不 originally showed a flower’s calyx; the “no” sense came later from a related character, not from this picture.

Open 不 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒfire
Sound part声符shēngfú
肰
肰rán然rán
Same sound today

然 is made from 肰, which gives the sound, and 火, which shows fire, matching the old sense 'to burn'.

Open 然 →

Grammar

Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5HSK 2.0 Level 5Cause, Effect & Logic2000 Most Frequent Chinese Words3000 Most Frequent Chinese Words5000 Most Frequent Chinese Words

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